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How I Learned to Stop Worrying and
Love Facebook
Anchorage Concert Association
Jason Hodges, Executive Director
Jason Grenn, Marketing Director
Join us, won’t you?
• Like us on Facebook
• Twitter: #ANCconcerts
• Download our iPhone app on iTunes
• www.anchorageconcerts.org
Questions to Answer
• Is social media right for me?
• How do I create engagement?
• How can I measure the effectiveness of
social media?
• What should my goals be for using social
media?
• Do I have to be an expert to use social
media?
What you talking about, Jason2?
• Who we are and what we do
• Story time
• The joy and wonder of Facebook
Legal Disclaimer
• We’re not experts
• We don’t have a social media plan
• We are making this up as we go
• We’re being thoughtful and careful
• We know what we’re doing for us
Myths
• Facebook will solve all my promotional,
brand and identity problems
• Everyone is on Facebook
• There are no costs associated with
Are you overwhelmed?
Image: m
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Why do you use Facebook?
• It’s an extension of you
• Share you life with your followers
Who is ACA?
Nonprofit Arts Presenting
• Multi-event, multi-discipline presentations
– Music, Dance, Theatre, Broadway
• 75% of revenue comes from ticket sales
• 25% is contributed by businesses,
individuals, and other entities
• This is not Lady Gaga
Our Customers
• 2,245 subscribers who buy 3 or more
events each season
• Each subscriber spends on average $615
• Subscribers buy on average 11.75 tickets
• Average ticket price is about $50
• We sell between 65,000 and 70,000
tickets each season
Product vs. Customer Service
• The Event is what drives people to us
• Subscribers purchase 33% of total tickets
sold each season
• Convert single ticket buyers to subscribers
• Larger subscriber base allows for better
management of expenses
Recent Season
• Eileen Ivers
• St. Lawrence Quartet
• Chicago The Musical
• Late Nite Catechism
• Ahn Trio
• Mark O’Connor
• Wizard of Oz
• Ira Glass
• Bill Cosby
• Suzanne Vega
• Chic Gamine
• Calo Flamenco
• Alpin Hong
• The Lost Fingers
• Mamma Mia!
• American Blue Grass
Masters
• Preservation Hall Jazz
Band
• Avenue Q
Build a lasting Relationship
Customer Life Cycle
Wanna go steady with us?
• First date is buying a ticket
• Commitment deepens with a subscription
• We get married with a donation
• Culminates with a Planned Gift
Traditional Relationship
Building Tools
• Direct Mail
• Newspapers
• Radio
• Television
In case you didn’t get the memo,
things have changed
Where can I buy Web 2.0?
• Old New Tools
– website
• New New Tools
– Blogs
– Podcasts
– Youtube
• Really New New Tools
– Foursquare
– Facebook Places
– Groupon
Is social media right for me?
• Am I willing to be a transparent
organization?
• Are there clear boundaries for what is
public and private?
Is social media right for me?
• Do you have the resources to devote to
doing it well?
Is social media right for me?
• Do you have an organizational voice?
• Do you know who you want to reach and
what your message is?
The adventure
begins…
Boss vs Marketing Director
• Fall 2008: The Marketing Director mentions
Facebook to ED
• The Boss is leery
THEN
• November 2008: The Boss gets a Facebook
account
• The Marketing Director rolls his eyes
November/December 2008
• ACA puts a survey in the field
– Only 23% of respondents have a FB account
– FB Appears to primarily attract younger
demos
– Current audience is older demos
• Decision is made to put FB on hold
• Didn’t feel core communication was
effective/efficient at its most basic level
• How would we integrate social media?
Take Aways
• You need organizational buy-in from top to
bottom
• Without a strong public relations /
promotional / marketing infrastructure,
social media will be a blunt tool
• We didn’t have a plan
Why did FB make sense for ACA?
• Personal relationship building
• Share content with fans
• Immediacy of feedback
• A more personal voice for the organization
• Opt in engagement
• Connect with younger audience members
March-April 2009
• ACA unveils website for 09-10 Season
• ACA produces 2009-2010 Brochure
• ACA launches FB fan page
• ACA begins FB ads for Spamalot
FB Goals
• We really didn’t have any
• OK we had one
• 1,000 FB fans by Aug 30, 2009
• That was it
• And we wanted to have fun
Status of Goal
• We missed
• By a lot
• Only 566 on August 30
• But we learned A LOT!
What did we learn?
• We didn’t have a lot to talk about
• If we engage, people will respond
– Contests
– Artist surveys
• We need to have a non-marketing voice
• Facebook ads work (at that time)
• We needed to have a FB plan
If you’re gonna pull the pin,
you better plan the bang
• Be a trusted friend on Facebook
– Post videos
– Post articles
– Post music
• Use limited marketing/development speak
• Strategic call to action messages
• Regular updates
Why Facebook fits us
• Event based management
• Personal
• Instant
• Cheap
• Little staff time required (sort of)
• One of the few marketing tools you can update from your mobile phone
• Transparency
Part II of FB “Plan”
• Special Promos
• Photo Contests
• Uploading photos from events
• Starting conversations
• Asking for advice
• Posting articles, artist reviews, music, etc
Engagement
Our Facebook profile
• 2,897 fans
• 70% are in the Anchorage area
• 73% female
• 76% 25-54 years
Two-Way communication
Cats Survey
Feeding the Habit
• Requires daily staff commitment and an
“expert”
• Integration with other advertising & tools
• More friends/fans/followers = more activity
• More need to respond instantly
• Creates “good” excuse for why staff must
be on FB all day long
Measuring
Success
Facebook ads
• 20,204,938 impressions
• 5,294 clicks
• .026% click thru rate
• $0.70 cost per click
• $3,686.53 total spent on 30 campaigns
Facebook ads
• Smaller, more specific groups of users
• Keywords, suggested keywords, location,
age, gender, education, “connections”
• Pay per click or impressions
• Connects us with Friends of our Friends
who are not Friends of ACA.
Unscientific Measurements
• Increase in web traffic from Facebook
based contests
• Increase in number of fans/friends in a
month / 6-month / year
• Number of comments and posts after and
event
• Chatter on Facebook around events
Buying Friendship
• A whitepaper by Webtrends found that the
cost of advertising to encourages a user to
become a “fan” on the brand’s Facebook
page is $1.07.
How can you use Facebook
One-Way Communication
Two-way
Communication
Best Advice
• Have something to say
• Reward your friends
– Make it valuable to follow you
• Respond quickly and honestly
– The whole world is watching
• Have buy-in
– Non EDs, Get a FB page
– Marketing Directors, help EDs get FB page
You Talk Too Much
• How much is too much?
• 1-2 times a day?
• 4-5 times a week?
• What time of day?
• Same time everyday?
“Do you have a Facebook
account?”
December 2008 – 23% answered “YES”
November 2009 – 62% answered “YES”
December 2010 – 70% answered “YES”
Things we’ve learned
• It takes time, a whole lot of time
• Don't act like "marketers"
• Be quick to listen and slow to speak
• Lose control - Be okay with it
Is it worth it? Really?
Can’t point to increased ticket sales
Can’t point to increased donations
More staff time
More expenses
Integrating marketing & development tools
So why are we doing this?
FB or something like it
Relationship building
It’s fun
Wrap-Up
Keys to success
– Know who you are
– Have organizational buy in
– Listen
– Respond carefully and thoughtfully
– Engage, don’t sell
NY Times is Stealing from us
“You can waste a lot of time on Facebook,”
said Ms. Shih, founder of Hearsay Labs, a
Facebook marketing software company.
“But if you’re a business, you don’t have
any time to waste. Figure out your
objectives first, start small and do things
that help you accomplish your objectives.”
NY Times November 11, 2009
Resources
• Beth’s blog
• Nonprofitorgs.wordpress.com
